


how to apologise to cute pinkettes

by gotchick, pinkfen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Flirting, Banter, Barista Na Jaemin, Bickering, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Jealousy, Light-Hearted, M/M, Meet-Cute, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Non-Explicit Sex, Pink-Haired Na Jaemin, Sexual Tension, Slice of Life, Strangers to Lovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28569366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotchick/pseuds/gotchick, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkfen/pseuds/pinkfen
Summary: Ever since they got off on the wrong foot, Jeno’s been trying to apologise; but every time he sees Jaemin’s pretty face, he fucks up.(Or: 5 times they miscommunicated and once they didn’t.)[Updated with epilogue]
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 118





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have 2 ao3 accounts gotchick and pinkfen, if you weren’t aware yet :) this is not a rework, i wrote it exclusively for nomin bc i’ve reworked so many fics it felt a bit… wrong? if i didnt write stuff specifically for them too. i just have a lot of feels about their dynamic and how their personalities mesh and that’s smth only getting down and writing them can explore! haha. anyway i’ve been wanting to write enemies to lovers au for the longest time and finally my one brain cell decided to bestow a decent idea on me,, this is really just pure and complete fluff so i hope my precious readers enjoy… also tbqh i found out there was a pink-haired njm tag and for some reason i rly wanted to use it lmfao its so cute gdi??
> 
> second chapter will be posted tomorrow [i promise lmao]
> 
> eta - this fic now has an epilogue and 3 chapters

The queue outside the restaurant is almost as long as regular, despite the cold season. Jeno keeps looking up from his phone and over the shoulder of the person in front of him, doing a quick headcount of how many more customers remain between him and the cozy, candlelit interior, visible through the glass front of the place.

It’s a swanky cafe-style restaurant, Renjun’s favourite since they came here for their second date a year ago. Jeno spies an empty table in the corner of the full room—actually, it appears to be the only table available as he scans the periphery. His worry is momentary though, since there’s only one guy left in front of him and Jeno has a reservation.

It would be difficult not to notice the young man whose back he’s facing, with his attention-grabbing eggshell pink hair, though Jeno hasn’t caught a glimpse of his face yet. For the past thirty minutes he’s been immersed in his phone, though from the back—despite not meaning to pry—Jeno can see he’s been playing candy crush the whole time. He bites back amusement, imagining this stranger is as bored as him by now, probably cold too judging from how his shoulders have gotten increasingly hunched into himself.

Excitement and relief floods him when the waiter comes to the entrance with a smile and asks the other customer: ‘Table for how many, sir?’ to which two fingers are raised. The waitstaff is starting to show the guy in when Jeno catches on to something amiss.

Not thinking, he places a hand on the pink-haired guy’s shoulder because the staff is further away and out of his reach. Both men turn, looking startled and Jeno hastily drops his arm. He sees the other guy’s face for the first time as wide eyes are swung on him, under a slightly furrowed brow.

‘I-I have a reservation,’ Jeno addresses the server. ‘Under Lee Jeno?’

The uniformed man fumbles with his clipboard, appearing inappropriately confused. As he does, despite not looking at his face, Jeno can sense the mild knit of the pinkette’s forehead intensifying into a frown.

‘Oh yes, Mr Lee—‘ His suspicions are confirmed when the waiter’s eyes roam from the single vacant table behind the sparkling glass, to the two of them standing before him. He shuffles his feet nervously.

‘I’m terribly sorry, sir, I made a mistake…’ To his relief, it’s the other customer being addressed in a low voice. Impatient and on edge from the mix up, Jeno pushes past the stranger, their shoulders brushing and starts heading in, eyes honed in on _his_ table.

‘Hey!’

This time around, he’s stunned to feel a hand on his bicep—grip strong and tight. Combined with the obvious annoyance lacing a deep voice, it’s enough to make Jeno halt gingerly.

The guy who’s just been turned away meets his eyes squarely for the first time, their gazes locking. He’s around the same age as Jeno. Good-looking. The rest of the customers in the queue behind them had dissipated as soon as they found out the restaurant was filled for the night—it’s closing in an hour and the sign displayed on the front clearly states they stop accepting new patrons at this time. But this guy seems awfully stubborn.

‘Can I help you?’ Jeno means to sound polite, but it comes out with a somewhat irritated tone due to his shock, and he winces.

The guy’s eyes widen further, his voice lower as he snaps, ‘I’ve been waiting almost an hour. In the cold.’

Jeno just blinks, gaping for a moment, floored by the other’s sheer entitlement.

‘So have I, if you didn’t notice. And I called to reserve that table in advance.’ He jerks his head for emphasis in the direction.

Seeming to be stricken speechless by this rebuttal, the guy runs a hand through his hair and wets his lips, still glaring at Jeno. His apparent fluster brings Jeno out of his defensiveness and back to himself. He’s usually more gentlemanly than this, and of course he can understand the disappointment having waited almost the same amount of time in these temperatures, but the stranger’s pushy reaction had just thrown him.

He’s about to apologise graciously, smoothen things over, when the waiter interrupts at this opportune point, probably worried they’ll escalate into an argument.

‘I’m truly sorry, sir; if I may offer you a reservation first thing tomorrow evening…’

‘Forget it.’ That deep voice rises again in the night air. Jeno huffs out a breath; it’s freezing more the later the hour gets and he just wants to be inside. He feels a pang of unexpected sympathy for the stranger, despite his rudeness, as he squares his shoulders into a slouch and starts turning away.

His phone vibrates in his pocket and he fishes it out reflexively. It’s Renjun, letting him know his taxi is almost there with a cute sticker thanking him for lining up. Jeno smiles without thinking.

When he looks up, he’s on the receiving end of a dirty look. He doesn’t have time to say or do anything before the pink-haired guy is pivoting and stalking away dramatically. Beside Jeno, the waiter is a shade paler as he ushers Jeno finally into the restaurant, bowing incessant apologies, and he can’t bring himself to blame him for his careless, confrontation-causing mess-up.

* * *

It’s Wednesday afternoon during his shift and Jaemin looks up to a sight that makes his eyes narrow—a face he dimly recognises pushing open the door of the campus coffee shop.

The guy doesn’t notice him at first, too absorbed in texting somebody on his phone—probably his girlfriend, after enjoying a nice date at the table they disputed over five days ago. Jaemin wipes his hands on his apron, feeling stupidly out of his element as the guy approaches with hapless obliviousness.

He almost flinches when the stranger raises his head, staring up right into Jaemin’s face, but smoothly keeps his cool. The other guy seems to be less adept at hiding his emotions, face falling in a blanch.

Well, that just pisses Jaemin off more. It wasn’t easy for him to put the incident behind after a few days; who is this guy to stride back into his life when he’s finally forgotten how he had to trek home in bitter disappointment, and more importantly lose any chances he had with the girl he was trying to woo, Jisung?

‘Can I help you?’ The words leave his mouth without consideration, and he belatedly realises he could be misconstrued as mocking the words the stranger said the other night. Nearby, his colleague Chenle who’s sweeping the floor glances at them, alerting him that he’s not being as warm as usual.

‘Welcome, may I take your order?’ he rephrases stiffly, and the guy whose saucer eyes haven’t left his face for the past minute snaps his mouth shut.

He appears as discomfited as Jaemin feels, but to his surprise, doesn’t swivel on his heel and make himself scarce. Instead, he orders a drink, not meeting Jaemin’s eyes, then palms his credit card over the reader without a word. Jaemin watches him move to the collection counter without returning his gaze again.

He has plenty of time while waiting for the espresso machine and whipping the foam to regret his instinctive reaction, and realise anew what he already did on Saturday night, walking against the wind with his hands shoved into his pockets to the train station.

 _He_ was in the wrong; he’d been rude and unreasonable. He should apologise.

Because this is the sort of person he is, Jaemin has in fact been feeling contrite and guilty about the incident ever since, despite his attempts to push the feelings away. He overreacted, gracelessly, and made a complete stranger feel bad for a mistake that wasn’t his—wasn’t anyone’s really. He’d been sorely disappointed, and cold, but that didn’t justify being selfish.

Come to think of it, it was possible his jerky behaviour had ruined this guy’s night, with his girlfriend or whoever.

He realises it’s a blessing he walked into Jaemin’s workplace today, a golden chance to offer the sincere apology he’d unconsciously been hoping to. He’s been working here for awhile although he doesn’t go to this university, but doesn’t remember seeing this person before. He’s evidently a student. No matter—there’s no guarantee they’ll bump into each other a third time, so this is his only opportunity to say sorry.

Discreetly blocked from view, Jaemin clumsily scrawls on the cardboard sleeve with his marker, hesitating before adding an emoji. Is it too much? Too—god forbid—flirty? But before he has time to ponder further, he glimpses the guy craning his head to check what Jaemin is doing.

He nearly drops the sleeve, all thumbs as he hastens to shove the hot cup into it and hustle to the pick-up counter.

He has his customer-ready smile on, confident of the power of its full wattage to dissolve the unfortunate misunderstanding at long last—but in an instant, it slips as the prior silent and mysterious guy opens his mouth and speaks the first sentence besides his order since he entered the shop.

‘Why’d you take so long? Didn’t poison me in revenge, did you?’

Jaemin blinks, shell-shocked, for longer than he’s willing to admit as the casual quip hits him like a slap in the face. He’s been working here for three months, and it’s the first time a customer has levelled such a malicious accusation at him.

He doesn’t even care if it’s in jest, a sick joke; the only kind of human being who would crack jokes like that anyway would be an—

‘Asshole.’

He mutters it low under his breath, not caring if Chenle heard, if the customer—the _asshole_ —heard. Perverse gratification is immediate balm for his wound as it’s the guy’s turn now to look like he’s been struck by lightning.

This time, he does leave the cafe without a second glance back, jaw set as he shoves the door open and vanishes into the sunlight. Jaemin can only feel a knee-buckling relief as he crumples the cardboard sleeve he managed to swipe off—‘Ow, fuck,’ the guy muttered when he grabbed the burning paper cup from the worktop, but Jaemin didn’t really give a shit—in his fist, then heaves an aggrieved sigh and truly starts to set about trying to forget the whole unsavoury pair of encounters.


	2. Chapter 2

Renjun is waiting in Jeno’s apartment when he gets back from classes, having let himself in with the spare key. Jeno’s a little confused why he didn’t just wait on campus so they could leave together if he was going to come anyway, but doesn’t ask as they share the simple meal Renjun prepared in relative silence.

After Jeno washes the dishes, he heads to grab clothes to shower. Renjun’s hand on his elbow pauses him.

‘We need to talk.’

‘About?’ Jeno grunts. ‘Can I bathe first?’

His boyfriend lets his arm go and smiles faintly. ‘Sure, of course.’

But after he exits the bathroom towelling his hair dry he holes up in his bedroom and texts Renjun who’s waiting on the sofa an apology, asking if they can talk another day because he’s tired.

Jeno hears the soft shut of the front door as he leaves after responding to the message. He throws himself back on his bed and stares at the ceiling, then pulls the damp towel over his eyes. Tries not to think what topic Renjun could possibly have been pushing to discuss for some time now.

Maybe he’s afraid it’s about the strange distance that’s opened between them of late, inexplicable but undeniable.

Unbidden, Jeno finds his thoughts wandering to the pink-haired barista from the campus coffee shop. It’s been ten days since their cursed encounter—not that he’s counting—and that’s another issue on his to-do list he’s aware he’s been dragging his feet on.

He went overboard. He has to apologise, some way or another. There’s no excuse this time—he knows where the guy goes to work. Could easily drop by the cafe any day post-school.

 _Asshole_. For reasons unknown that rough, sassy voice occasionally rings in his head. At that moment, Jeno had felt ridiculously exposed, like that boy whose name he didn’t even know was seeing right through him, calling him out.

Perhaps that’s what his own boyfriend wants to say to him too, but is too nice.

Guilt creeps up when his thoughts return to Renjun. Jeno is pretty sure he won’t be happy about him dwelling at length on introspection about another man. That was also part of the reason he’s been standoffish and elusive: Renjun has always been able to read him unnervingly well—or maybe he’s just an open book—and Jeno was paranoid he'd be able to sense somehow that another male had been occupying his recent thoughts.

He decides that he has to apologise, once and for all. If only for the sake of his peace of mind. Surely these unwelcome mental images will stop plaguing him once he’s said sorry and relieved his conscience about all that transpired.

He can do it. Be mature, the bigger person. He resolves to visit the cafe again as soon as possible. Well, soon.

* * *

This afternoon, their manager is doing the monthly stocktaking and inventory and Jaemin and Chenle offer to stay behind past their shift to help with the heavy lifting. Aeri thanks them with her sweet smile.

They only finish around twilight, whereafter Aeri and Jaemin sit at one of the tables and discuss photography while she multitasks collating the day’s accounts. Chenle offers to fetch their manager home after he shuts down the POS system, so Jaemin parts ways with them. By the time he starts strolling in the direction of the train station, darkness has fallen.

He rubs his eyes in disbelief when a familiar figure materialises in his field of vision, sitting with slumped posture on a bench at the garden area of the college compound. Almost the entire student body has left by now, and the school gates are closing soon.

Jaemin takes a step forward from where he’s frozen, shaking himself out of his stupor. This is the last face he wants to see right now, but he guesses it’s true that when it rains, it pours. How is it possible he never—knowingly—crossed paths with this guy before a month ago, and now in the short span of preceding time they’ve bumped thrice?

 _I’m sorry for everything. It was my fault_.

Walking up, Jaemin vows to spit it out this occasion. His colleagues have commented that he’s been distracted the past weeks, and Yangyang even started teasing him wondering if he developed a crush on a pretty customer because he claimed Jaemin keeps eyeing the cafe doors and zoning out.

Jaemin figured it was the unfinished business that bothered him. He has healthy and communicative relationships with most of his friends; not to boast or anything. So it was something out of the ordinary for a stranger to make him flounder like that.

Thus he decided all he had to do was seek the stranger out, and patch up. He guesses it’s fortuitous they stumbled upon each other today, since it didn’t look like he was coming into the cafe again anytime soon. Now Jaemin just has to work up his nerve.

The guy is wearing glasses today. Jaemin can see clearer as he nears under the weak illumination provided by streetlamps.

When he gets close enough to whiff the light but unmistakable scent of alcohol, carried by the breeze, Jaemin stops short, heart lurching for some reason. The guy doesn’t seem to have heard his footsteps or sensed his presence, this whole time he was approaching. He remained in the same position almost like a statue, face buried in hands and elbows on his knees. The night is fast setting in, and if he wasn’t aware of Jaemin’s approach, who else might creep up without warning? An absurd worry tightens Jaemin’s stomach. He’s sure the guy can protect himself perfectly fine, with his build, but—

‘Yah,’ he calls, voice coming out hoarse. Takes a sheepish step back when the guy’s head snaps up, jumping visibly. He takes stock of his surroundings as if confused by the hour, then narrowed eyes bore into Jaemin.

Jaemin advances to stand in front of him as he straightens. His eyes appear bleary and glazed. Concerned, Jaemin inhales and reaches to shake his shoulder. He searches his memory and finds a vague impression of a name. _Lee Jeno_.

He calls it, adds, ‘Come to your senses.’

When only silence and a stiffening of the shoulder under his hand is his response, he flusters and babbles, ’It’s late. You gotta go home; it’s dangerous to sit here alone.’

He tries the name again, and suddenly the pair of eyes blaze up at him, with such fire even behind the glasses that Jaemin drops his hand in surprise. Unmistakable stirrings of recognition gleam in those pools of dark. Jaemin’s gut twists.

He doesn’t know what he expects to hear when Jeno opens his mouth finally, but it’s not, ‘Just leave me alone.’

It’s the harsh tone rather than the words themselves that makes Jaemin recoil and rear back, spitting out the first retort that comes to mind.

‘Fine.’

Even so, after a frigid stare-off, he’s the one who has to lower his dignity and snarl, ‘I’m leaving, but you better get your drunk ass out of here too. They’re locking up soon.’

He resists the tempting urge to throw a spiteful sneer over his shoulder as he departs, but the unintentional glimpse of Jeno’s countenance he catches almost makes him trip over a pebble in his path. The haze of alcohol nowhere to be seen all of a sudden, only a stricken vulnerability that makes Jaemin feel like he witnessed something uncomfortably intimate.

* * *

‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’

Jeno’s sitting at his dining table with Haechan, his and Renjun’s friend, when Haechan asks this looking apprehensive.

‘Mind what?’ Jeno finds his gaze, which slides to the side.

‘You know…’ he hems and haws. ‘About me and Jun getting together.’ Haechan darts a glance at the kitchen where Renjun is making them cream Jin ramen.

Jeno’s eyelid twitches. ‘I said I didn’t,’ is his short response. It’s the truth, but he’s still not comfortable enough to talk about it as yet.

Haechan hums, relief apparent. Because Jeno wants to get him off the topic, he doesn’t think before replying when his friend rummages nosily through the stack of papers on the table and unearths the foolscap with lines scrawled and crossed out, proceeding to enquire what it is.

Renjun arrives with the food and Jeno thinks he’s in the clear, but Haechan pries again after they start eating.

‘It’s nothing.’ Jeno squirms in his chair. ‘I’m just trying to apologise to somebody.’

He’s aware of his ex’s gaze on his face as Haechan extracts bits and pieces of the recount out of him. Their friend claps his hands abruptly, making them both jump and the moment break.

‘Ah, you mean that pink-haired part-timer in the uni coffee shop, right? I know him.’

Renjun says, ‘You do?’

Haechan nods with enthusiasm. ‘I go there to study sometimes and I guess we got to chatting. Jaemin, everybody knows he’s Mr Nice Guy.’

Jeno would’ve cringed hearing that description about anyone else, but what he does is remember genuine concern in an open face as Jeno stared up into it on the park bench, a softness that made his insides clench.

 _Jaemin_. The name suits him.

‘So how are you going to confess?’ Haechan kicks the table leg accidentally, choking on his noodles, and Renjun reddens and quickly amends, ‘I mean, how’re you going to apologise?’

* * *

Too dorky, Jeno had dismissed when his supportive friends suggested a card. Now, he’s rethinking his life choices as he hauls the large corrugated plastic board through the cafe doors, while taking care to hide the words written in bold on one side.

When he looks up breathlessly, the first thing he notices is that Jaemin’s hair is blue now. A shade of baby blue that makes Jeno swallow the lump in his throat. The second thing he notices is that the dishcloth Jaemin was drying plates with before Jeno entered appears to have fluttered out of his hand to the ground. Jaemin looks like his jaw has dropped, something Jeno always thought was only a hyperbolic figure of speech.

He avoids the pair of haunting eyes the whole clumsy way to the booth he crashes into.

Jaemin eventually returns to his tasks after three excruciating minutes in which they seem to be staring at each other without actually looking in the other’s direction. Jeno heaves a gusty sigh, but the relief is short-lived as he hears a cup clattering to the ground, followed by an admonishment from someone else that it thankfully wasn’t glass Jaemin dropped.

When Jeno ventures tentative eyes upward, he starts to see Jaemin’s ears flaming even from afar, the lovely colour spreading to the apples of his cheeks.

Their eyes accidentally snap together, and Jaemin freezes up. Jeno panics spontaneously, knowing he will have to reveal his plastic board. That, or go to the counter and make an order.

He forces his mind to stop spinning and his heart to quit racing. Here goes nothing, Jeno thinks as he slowly lifts the board above his head, marker-scrawled side exposed to the world, before he loses Jaemin’s attention and the other people in the cafe look over.

He doesn’t allow himself to duck his gaze down, no matter how much he wishes to. Jaemin covers his mouth with his knuckles, eyes round. Time seems to stop but when he lowers his hand Jeno can finally see his lips are stretched in a grin almost too huge for his face.

Jeno’s arms have started to shake, not from exertion but the tremors shivering straight from his heart, so he lowers the board. He casts eyes around helplessly, as if hunting for a hole in the ground to burrow into as he senses more than sees Jaemin coming out from behind the counter and walking towards him.

Jaemin slides a cardboard cup sleeve onto the edge of the plastic board on Jeno’s lap when he’s standing before him, in such proximity Jeno can hear his arrhythmic breaths.

On the sleeve is scribbled SORRY in English, with an adorable emoji. It’s only a fraction of the size of Jeno’s board, but with the same sentiment expressed on it. Understated yet devastating, the way Jeno has learned from their piecemeal interactions how Jaemin is.

‘Does this mean I’m forgiven?’

The lame question comes out in a rather pathetic croak, making Jeno’s skin burn.

But Jaemin just laughs heartily, a laugh he immediately realises he’s never heard before. It’s melodic.

‘You’re forgiven, Lee Jeno,’ Jaemin drawls, the name sounding like silk in his voice. ‘I’m Jaemin, by the way.’

‘I know,’ Jeno admits, then heats up more under Jaemin’s curious scrutiny.

‘I don’t know why I got so upset.’ Jaemin tugs the ground from under him with a soft-spoken confession of his own. ‘I mean, I don’t want you to think… I’m not usually so petty.’

Jaemin has his mouth covered again when Jeno raises his head, this time with embarrassment.

‘Me too,’ Jeno blurts out. ‘I’m still not sure why I got so worked up…’

* * *

Jaemin can’t believe Jeno stole his thunder. If he’d known, he wouldn’t have been so damn stubborn over the cardboard sleeve.

Jeno shifts the stupid plastic board behind him on the seat, but looks even more pained without it, like he doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Jaemin feels a rush of feeling for him, something more than sympathy.

‘I’m kind of...’ Jeno mumbles as though he read Jaemin’s thoughts, ‘really awkward.’ He grimaces, rubbing the nape of his neck.

Jaemin fights the urge to laugh, not wanting to hurt his feelings. ‘I can tell,’ is all he comes up with, but god, the smile Jeno’s answering laugh melts into is brilliant.

Entranced, Jaemin runs back to the counter, fumbling in his pocket to fish a wad of dog-eared notes from his wallet. He stuffs it into a flabbergasted Chenle’s hand begging him to cover the rest of his shift.

‘You can’t bribe rich people!’ Chenle protests at a decibel that makes Jaemin wince, but he ignores it and rushes to grab his bag from the kitchen, stripping off his apron. He doesn’t forget to beseech Shotaro, the kitchen staff, to give Chenle a hand.

Jeno is wearing a dazed and uncertain expression when Jaemin gets back to him.

‘A-are you sure you can just take off like this? I don’t wanna get you fired.’ He still seems to be reeling from their exchange.

Jaemin simply grabs his hand and tugs him to his feet in reply, leaving the unwieldy board behind in the booth for himself to siphon away later. He’s going to pin it up on his wall like a poster.

Outdoors, spring is beginning and everything is in bloom, but Jaemin can’t see anything except Jeno’s pretty eye smile, gradually broadening from guarded into carefree.

He realises he’s staring at Jeno’s lips when he clears his throat and licks them nervously. Jaemin tears his eyes away, heart hammering wild and hungry.

He wants to ask _Can I kiss you?_ but chickens out and murmurs instead, hiding behind his lashes, _You’re cute_.

Jeno scrunches up his nose, ears going red. _Cute_ , Jaemin thinks.

What was that saying? About love and hate being two sides of the same coin. Jaemin guesses that one’s true too, after all. He should’ve become aware when it dawned on him. That he’d never felt so violently about any other human being.

He’s glad they got a second chance. Because Jeno may be a hot asshole, but he’s _Jaemin’s_ hot asshole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the second chapter kinda veered a little out of my control and plans [which always happens ugh] and I’m not really sure how it turned out but honestly im just gonna leave it here bc I worked hard on it lol. I hope the falling in love wasn’t too out of nowhere! Thank you so much if you read till the end of this... blob and hopefully you enjoyed my first fic of 2021 even just a little bit :’)
> 
> If you like my writing and haven’t read the rest of my works on pinkfen do check them out! :3 if you read renhyuck, I’d like to point you to ‘brand new’ in particular - it’s one of the fics im proudest of but the views are p low so I was a tad bit :( [a huge ratio of the readers who did read it left it love though]
> 
> Happy 2021!


	3. epilogue

On Jeno’s birthday, they make plans to meet at the coffee shop after his classes and Jaemin’s shift, but he has a romantic surprise planned.

He can’t help smiling even before pushing through the doors of the cafe, already seeing the familiar mop of sky blue hair with the grin that makes his pulse skip beneath. Jaemin’s roots are growing out; Jeno reminds himself to request him to go back to black for a bit and give his scalp a rest.

‘Jeno-yah!’ He surprises a rise from the usually soft voice when he saunters in. ‘You cut class?’

Jaemin’s attempt at a stern expression is disapproving, though he’s no model worker himself—Jeno has heard from Haechan that Jaemin waves off his payments for drinks nowadays, after he heard he's a close friend of Jeno’s; and that’s on top of the free food and beverages Jeno gets plied with every time he drops by.

Worried this will rub Jaemin’s colleagues the wrong way eventually, Jeno doesn’t really come into the shop unless he has a reason. Jaemin gets super distracted every time he does anyway, even this long into their relationship.

If it weren’t his special day today, Jeno wouldn’t allow himself this one-time indulgence. He smiles and leans over the counter, eager to relief Jaemin’s torn look.

‘I already bribed your wonderful colleague into covering the rest of today’s shift.’

Chenle snorts from behind the cake display, not looking up from what he’s doing. ‘Yeah, yeah. I asked Yangyang hyung to come in early; you’re welcome.’

Jaemin gapes between him and Jeno who’s retreating to an empty table to wait for him to grab his stuff. He breaks into a dazzling smirk.

Winking at Jeno, Jaemin pokes Chenle in the side while squeezing past him. ‘I thought you said you don’t accept bribes.’

‘That’s just from _you_ , hyung,’ Jaemin’s shift partner huffs, squirming in disgust when Jaemin ruffles his bangs.

‘Aww, such a rebellious baby.’

Chenle scoffs again, scooting away. ‘Just go and stop touching me, your lover boy’s getting jealous.’

Jeno quickly rearranges his face and pretends not to be looking at them before Jaemin follows the jerk of Chenle’s head in his direction.

Thirty minutes later, Jeno knows his boyfriend would give an arm and a leg to snap a picture of the selfsame waiter who served them the day they met, at Renjun’s favourite restaurant.

‘Table for two,’ Jaemin tells him smugly as they walk up, not hand in hand but their arms touching along almost the entire lengths. No doubt there isn’t a chance they’ve been forgotten, if only because of Jaemin’s hair colour.

The poor server’s eyes dart from Jeno’s to Jaemin’s face, as if he thinks this may be a hidden camera prank. When they only smile expectantly, he quavers into action.

‘V-very good, sir.’

Despite Jeno’s nudge, Jaemin can’t resist pointing to the exact corner table they’d fought over, making the staff more flustered.

‘We want that one.’

Jeno’s still chuckling after they’ve ordered. Jaemin is so much quirkier than he thought, in a way that amazes Jeno endlessly. He’s never met anyone like Jaemin.

The place is almost empty besides them, as they turned up just after it opened, before the lunch hour. Jeno studies Jaemin across the table. They’ve barely been seeing each other a month, and he collects each new fact he learns about Jaemin like a dragon hoarding shiny things.

Jaemin isn’t going to university; he took a couple of gap years after graduating high school intending to serve his military service before moving to France to study cooking and photography.

It’s something that sobers Jeno when he remembers, so he doesn’t like to. It’s only the nascent stage of their relationship. He’s the first guy Jaemin’s dated seriously, though he says he’s always identified as bisexual. They’re having fun together. That’s all that matters for now.

So he doesn’t like to think of the future, but at moments like this, when the late morning sunlight, shiny and white, floods through the glass and sparkles across Jaemin’s bright eyes and cheeky laugh—it’s hard not to.

They definitely don’t know each other well enough yet for Jeno to be in love with Jaemin. And yet...

Jeno calls for the check at the end of the meal—trying not to flush in front of the waiter from how Jaemin had shamelessly fed him multiple times—knowing that Jaemin is working part time to save up for his overseas schooling plans. Jaemin protests, as he always does, but Jeno just says ‘You can pay next time,’ aware that he’ll pick a dirt cheap roadside stall for that next time.

* * *

Jeno is the first guy Jaemin’s ever dated. But he isn’t Jeno’s first male lover.

After the meal, they head to Jeno’s house, pleasantly warm and loose from the bottle of wine they shared during the brunch. Jeno looks more princely than usual today. The way the midday sun hits him through the windows of his apartment is making Jaemin’s heart curl.

Jaemin hums as he buzzes around the studio apartment he’s become increasingly familiar with—let’s just say they had a heated first two weeks getting to know each other. He washes the extravagant coffee percolator he bought Jeno for an advance birthday gift, and starts making them both cinnamon coconut lattes. On the coffee table, Jeno opens up the cake Jaemin took away from the cafe, which he requested Shotaro to ice a customised message on. He’s already reassured his boyfriend that he did pay this time.

After they eat and take turns showering, Jaemin changing into the clothes he brought to spend the night, Jeno closes the windows and switches on the air conditioner and they tangle on the couch and watch Youtube connected to Jeno’s TV. Jaemin wonders if Jeno’s even aware he’s compulsively stroking idle fingers through the strands of Jaemin’s hair. He cuddles further into the crook of his arm and nods, laughing when Jeno asks him not to dye it for at least two months.

Jaemin is tidying the living room while Jeno washes the dishes and cups, even going over the fabric cover of the pull-out couch with a lint roller, when he finds the earring.

The innocuous single stud was lying under one of the cushions, buried in the crease between it and the back of the sofa.

The pang that stabs Jaemin’s chest staggers him with how unexpected it is.

He already knew. About Jeno’s ex of more than a year, his classmate in their university. He also knows the Chinese boy is now with Haechan.

And yet… seeing the oddly intimate article of jewellery conjures unshakable images of another guy spending nights like this in Jeno’s house, preparing food for him, looking up at his devastatingly dear smile as Jeno pinned him on this couch.

He’s been very nonchalant about this—or at least pretended to be when he found evidences of Renjun’s presence in various corners of Jeno’s apartment.

He’s been quietly shuffling things around, hiding away what he can—because if these items make him think of the other man, he’s certain they remind his lover of the old flame too.

But finding this, here, he was unprepared for. Probably he’s being dramatic. But when Jeno returns, smiling innocently, Jaemin can’t muster the same cheer he’s been in all day.

Jeno senses his change in mood after a while. The earring lies in Jaemin’s pocket, though now he just feels pathetic stealing it to throw away.

‘Are you okay?’ A light graze of his arm calls his attention. Jeno is peering at him solicitously.

‘Did you ever sleep with anyone here?’ Jaemin blurts out.

Jeno blinks once, hand still on his arm. ‘Huh?’

‘On this couch,’ Jaemin clarifies, already regretting the question.

Jeno draws back. Pulls away. He looks uncomfortable.

‘I don’t remember,’ he finally answers just as Jaemin is about to ask him to forget it. ‘Why?’

‘Nothing, I was just wondering.’ He tries to brush it off, but the mood’s shifted subtly. ‘It’s stupid. Ignore what I said.’

‘Uh, sure.’ He can’t read the expression on Jeno’s face, but a minute later Jaemin’s pushed back against the soft cushion.

Jeno thumbs the corner of his lip, then leans in.

They’ve kissed for a few minutes, panting softly into each other’s mouths, when they slide into a more horizontal position and something suddenly rolls out of Jaemin’s sweatpants pocket.

Jeno’s lips leave his jaw, an odd look coming over his face as he reaches down and picks up the earring before Jaemin can do anything.

‘This…’ Jaemin feels ashen and vaguely nauseous. He can’t make eye contact. ‘Did you find it here?’ Jeno asks delicately.

‘Yeah, well. Maybe.’ Jaemin pushes Jeno’s weight off him, wanting to shrink. He hasn’t felt such mortification in years.

And, he realises, he kind of hates this person for making him feel so humiliated. So insecure. So out of his depth.

Jeno inches closer, breath hot and still coming faster on his bare arm, but Jaemin leans away. Jeno doesn’t come any nearer, and Jaemin can feel the hurt and confusion begin to emanate from him but he doesn’t really care. His face is burning.

‘Are you…’ He hears Jeno lick his lips, the dry click of his swallow, his voice soft as leaves. ‘Were you jealous?’

‘No, fuck you.’ Jaemin blurts the first response that comes to his mind in an irritable tone.

It was a completely defensive reaction, but he realises his mistake right away. Jaemin doesn’t even have to look up to know how wounded Jeno looks now.

‘Hey.’ Jeno’s voice is low, even. ‘You wanna go home? I can call a cab.’

Jaemin flinches before he can help it.

‘I mean, if you don’t want me here…’

‘I don’t want to hurt you.’ The deep voice silences him.

For some reason, it calls to memory the doubts that stopped him every time he wanted to apologise, before they got together. _What if he hates me now?_

Turns out, whether as strangers or lovers, they’re still able to antagonise each other like no one.

It’s way too early to even entertain thoughts like this, and Jeno would most certainly be freaked out if he knew, but Jaemin sometimes wonders—how long will they last? Longer than their previous relationships? And Jaemin can defer his military service till an older age—Jeno too—but what about when he goes abroad for his further studies, as he must eventually? They won’t be able to meet like this, to kiss and touch, gestures of affection which have become unexpectedly important to them. What then?

’Nana?’ Jeno’s plaintive voice lifts him from his reverie. He can’t possibly not be aware—that when he uses that pet name, it kills Jaemin.

‘I’m not going home,’ he hears himself saying, voice raspy. ‘I’m staying. If you want to sleep alone, I can take the guest room—‘

His shirt is pushed up by a large hand before he can finish speaking, the palm warm against his bare stomach. Air knocked out of him.

Jeno nudges him to lift his arms, then undresses him. He always stares at Jaemin in a way that drives him crazy. Nobody’s ever gazed at him with such worship, such lust. It makes Jaemin feel alive.

They want to make it to the room, they really do—but Jaemin needs Jeno _in him, right now_ , and he can’t even wait to be carried the short distance to his bed.

Jeno fucks him gently and slowly into the sofa, after they mercifully manage to locate a tube of lubricant nearby.

When Jaemin wakes the morning after Jeno’s birthday, sleepy eyes are staring down at him in a loving smile. Knuckles brush his cheek with a tender caress.

‘Jaemin-ah,’ Jeno murmurs, sounding serious. ‘This… this is important to me. We’re gonna make it work, right?’

Jaemin catches his breath and sighs into his touch. Charmed. Enamoured.

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘We’re going to.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually contemplated writing full on explicit smut lmao but maybe next time when im more in the mood for writing it otl
> 
> Really hope you enjoyed this glimpse into their established relationship <3 their dynamic in this fic intrigued me and I felt they didnt have enough interactions in the prev 2 chaps so this epilogue helped it feel more complete for me haha. A lot of readers also showed their love for this and let me know they enjoyed this au by interacting with the fic in various ways so thank you for sharing my excitement, it meant a lot :)
> 
> All kudos and comments are always appreciated! The two comments I received on this fic really warmed my heart and motivated me in my writing.
> 
> If you enjoy coffee shop au with alternating narratives [lol], do check out my fic angel cake which is similar to this!


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